How to expand ourselves?

2025年6月23日 2025年6月23日

tsuzukizeirishi

I read "The Body Thinks - Shoseikan Style to Cultivate Creativity" (by Yoshinori Kono and Ryou Hojo).
(It was previously introduced on the radio)

In the book, there were two perspectives on the question of how to expand one's self that I learned from.

The first is to come into contact with something that contradicts one's opinion.

The momentary disgust is a reflex, like feeling hot water as hot, and there is nothing one can do about it.

It is necessary to train oneself to control momentary emotions (described as animal nature in the book).

Instead of rejecting it, leave it as it is incomprehensible.

As time passes, one may find a new perspective.

The second is to doubt what one believes most.

The more one resists denying something, the more likely it is to be a sacred place.

I was shocked by the convincing point.

It's like destroying everything one has built up until now.

However, it is also true that this can become a fixed idea and prevent one from seeing things.

When we actually doubt ourselves, we may feel things like

-weakness

-emptiness

about life, but it helps us relax in a good way.

Having certain values is not necessarily a bad thing; rather, they are essential as guidelines for life.

When trying to expand ourselves, our values can sometimes get in the way, so it's important to step outside of our own framework.